USS ''Metomkin'' (AG-136/AKL-7) was a ''Camano''-class

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

constructed for the U.S. Army as USA ''FS-316'' shortly before the end of World War II and later acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1947. She was configured as a transport and cargo ship and was assigned to serve the World War II Trust Territories in the Pacific Ocean.

Constructed in Camden, New Jersey

The first ship to be so named by the Navy, ''Metomkin'' (AG 136) was built by John A. Mathis Co.,

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

, in 1944; operated by the Army as a freight supply ship in the Pacific Ocean during and after World War II; acquired by the Navy as ''FS-316'' at Subic Bay, Luzon, 28 February 1947; renamed ''Metomkin'' 3 April 1947; and commissioned at

Apra Harbor Apra Harbor, also called Port Apra, is a deep-water port on the western side of the United States territory of Guam. It is considered one of the best natural ports in the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is bounded by Cabras Island and the Glass Breakwa ...

, Guam, 16 August 1947.

Pacific islands operations

Following completion of conversion for Navy use, ''Metomkin'' began passenger and cargo shuttle duty in the central and western Pacific. Assigned to the

Service Force, Pacific Fleet Service Force, United States Pacific Fleet, usually known as COMSERVPAC, was a service support command of the United States Pacific Fleet from 1942 until 1973. It was the reincarnation of the former Base Force. The Service Force comprised the suppl ...

, she made runs to American bases in the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

, the Marshall Islands, and the Caroline Islands. Operating out of Apra Harbor, she completed numerous runs from the Palau Islands eastward to Pearl Harbor, and during the next 4 years she maintained a busy schedule while transporting military and civilian passengers as well as tons of general cargo. On 31 March 1949 she reclassified as ''AKL-7''. ''Metomkin'' continued her important logistics support duty to military bases in the Pacific until 22 June 1951 when she completed her final run from the Carolines.

Transfer to Department of Interior

She decommissioned at Guam 3 August 1951 and was transferred the same day to the

U.S. Department of Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the man ...

. Her name was struck from the Navy List 16 January 1952. Her subsequent fate is not known.

References

*
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - FS-316 - AG-136 / AKL-7 Metomkin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metomkin (AG-136) Ships of the United States Army Design 381 coastal freighters Ships built by John H. Mathis & Company 1944 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Camano-class cargo ships United States Department of the Interior